Monday, November 17, 2014

BELARUS AND SWEDISH LGBT CAMPAIGNS

FOR INJURED BELARUS GAY

Stockholm/Minsk — Both Belarus and Swedish LGBT organizations have launched a fund-raising campaign to help Mikhail Pischevsky, a Belarus gay architect/designer nearly beaten to death in a savage, homophobic attack in the Belarus capital last May—leaving him since then hospitalized,in a coma and permanently injured.

"It's been for the first time that a criminal case for committing a hate crime in relation to a homosexual person has received publicity in Belarus", says Oleg Rozkkov of Belarus's Gaypress. The attacker is appealing his 2-year jail sentence, insisting he was "cleaning up society" and should not be punished for beating up homosexuals.

"The family desperately needs financial help to care for Mikhail and to emplyee a nurse for essential care", say Belarus LGBT activists.

"We have long been working with Belarus LGBT groups and find it only natural to try to extend our assistance to them, to Mikhail and his family caring for him", says Bill Schiller of Tupilak (Nordic cultural workers) and ILGCN (International rainbow cultural network) Information Secretariat-Stockholm—both long working with Belarus LGBT colleagues.